


My Body is a Burial Ground

by lethallen



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, also there's not a lot of detail about the past relationship if that's something that turns you off, plus hella HC from my sara so yeah, rated T for mentions of sexy times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-10 20:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11699730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lethallen/pseuds/lethallen
Summary: Jaal wants to know the story behind the drawings that mark Sara's skin.





	My Body is a Burial Ground

Jaal's fingers traced down Sara's spine as she watched him, a warm and happy look on her face, and he quickly realized that there was no other place in the universe he'd rather be. He lived for these moments, the times when everything around them went soft, hazy, sleepy. Those times were so rare with them, because Sara was the type to always keep moving, to never stop and enjoy things. Of course, she was coming around, particularly during times of post-coital quiet. 

Moving his hand over to the ink that marked her skin, he began tracing that, as well. It looked to be some kind of flower, and it sat dead center on the back of Sara's neck. "You have a few of these," he murmured, not wanting to shatter the quiet. "Are they markings for family? Or status?"

Her voice was low and sweet, just for him. "Not really. Lots of humans have tattoos, and most of the time, they do mean something. I've even seen some humans who married turians get their clan markings on their face, but that's pretty rare and pretty extreme. Sometimes, though, they don't mean anything, they're just for decoration. Or just for kicks. I had a friend on the Citadel who got this movie character, Blasto, tattooed on his ass on a dare." She let out a snort, a noise that made him smile. So did her response; whenever he asked her a question about her species, she always gave a full answer with examples. She wanted him to know her people, which was particularly nice considering he felt the same. 

"So are yours just for decoration?" he asked, though he was fairly certain of what the answer would be. Sara didn't commit to things unless she cared deeply about them, so he doubted she would get a tattoo that was just for decoration.

He was right. "No. All of them mean something," she replied, then paused for a moment, though whether it was to gain courage or contemplate something, he couldn't tell. "The one on the back of my neck is an Earth flower called edelweiss. I got it after my mom died. We used to watch this really old vid as a family -- well, minus Dad -- called _The Sound of Music_. She would always sing the songs in it, and her favorite song was called Edelweiss." She let out a slow breath. "Scott pretended to hate the vid, but he always sat down to watch it with us."

Jaal listened very carefully as she spoke, his fingers still tracing the small flower. When he was sure she was finished, he leaned over to press a kiss to the ink on her neck. "I would very much like to watch that vid with you sometime," he told her. "If that's alright."

He could hear the smile in her voice, and it warmed him to his toes. "I'd love that."

* * *

 

"What does this one mean?"

Jaal brushed his thumb over the inside of Sara's wrist, where there were three numbers, along with a drawing of human hands with the smallest fingers wrapped around each other.

"Oh, that one?" Sara asked, shaking her head as she sat down her drink. They were holding hands over a table at the Tavataan and expressly ignoring any strange looks they got. "That one's kind of silly."

But they both knew it wasn't, so Jaal just waited until Sara elaborated. "Scott has the same one, but the numbers are different. 9:05 for him, 9:07 for me. They're the times we were born; he has mine and I have his. And the hands..." She paused again, and Jaal worried a bit that she thought he might judge her. He couldn't imagine doing so; he hoped it was just her figuring out what words to use. She did that occasionally, when she wanted to give a good answer. "We -- humans -- have this thing called a pinky swear. You ask someone to pinky swear something, and you wrap your littlest finger, the pinky--" She wiggled her pinky to demonstrate. "--around the other person's. And to kids, and even some adults, this is kind of an unbreakable vow. Dunno exactly how it started in our culture, but when we were little, Scott and I would make, like, a hundred pinky swears a day." She laughed then, eyes brightening, and he was suddenly very glad he had asked.

"About what?" he probed, all the affection for her plain on his face. It used to make her blush and stutter, but didn't so much anymore. 

"Oh, lots of things. If I saw him break something, he'd make me pinky swear not to tell our parents he did it. Or if I stole some cookies that Mom was saving for company, I'd make him pinky swear to keep it a secret if I shared some with him. You know, stupid kid stuff." She shrugged, a small smile on her face. "Anyway, it kind of turned into a handshake at some point. We still do it, especially before we head into some serious shit, or we know we're not gonna see each other for a while. Neither of us are all that touchy-feely, so it's a nice alternative to a hug."

Jaal smiled. It was always so nice to hear more about Ryder's family, especially because she didn't talk about them much. Considering her family had withstood so many tragedies, he figured it was no wonder. But it was nice to hear her talk about the good memories. She deserved a break from the crushing weight she carried.

"I was not aware you weren't... as you say, 'touchy-feely'," he replied, looking amused as he added quotes around the last phrase. 

She rolled her eyes, flushing just a little. "When you're my boyfriend, it doesn't count." Smirking, she lowered her voice. "On the contrary, I'd like to be touchy-feely with you all night long."

The volume of his laugh certainly caused an increase in stares. 

* * *

 

"This one seems self-explanatory," Jaal remarked, looking at the tattoo on Sara's shoulder. "But the design is very interesting."

She had just gotten out of the shower and had a towel wrapped around her body. She was facing away from him, toward the mirror, and it gave him a perfect view of her tattoo. It was black ink, like the others, and had the same clean lines, but was more detailed. It was a human head with the top broken off, and there were two planets, a ship, and stars coming out of it. Underneath it, there were words that his translator helpfully deciphered.  _I have no special talents; I am only passionately curious_. He admired the sentiment, though he wasn't sure if it applied to his Sara, whose talents seemed endless.

She looked back at him in the mirror, chuckling. "Yeah, it is pretty self-explanatory. I love exploring. I love discovering. That's why I got it."

"No story to that one then?"

"Nope." Another pause, and, this time, it actually seemed like hesitation. "Well, actually, somewhat. But I don't know if you'd want to hear it."

His face grew troubled. "I want to hear all of your stories, darling one. I'd hoped that was clear."

She sighed, turning to face him. "I... yes, I know that, but... I don't know. It's kind of a weird subject in a lot of cultures. To talk about with your partner, I mean."

His troubled expression only grew more intense. "You have me worried now," he admitted, shifting to the edge of the bed. 

"An ex-boyfriend did it for me," she told him finally. "An artist, a turian. Not usually two things that go together, but he was... special."

If Jaal was surprised, it was only because Sara had never told him about previous lover. He, of course, figured that she had one, but he assumed it wasn't anything serious, considering she never mentioned it before. "Oh? How long were you together?"

"A year and a half. Vetis, was his name. He worked at the only tattoo shop on the Citadel. He was a very good man," she told him, sadly, wistfully. Jaal might have been jealous earlier in their relationship, before he knew how much Ryder loved him. But now, he was only curious. 

"I hope he didn't break your heart. Then I'd have to consider him to be a very _stupid_ man."

That earned a laugh from Ryder, and he was glad to hear it. "No, nothing like that. Things just ended up not working. We loved each other, but sometimes that's not enough. Either way, we were on good terms in the end. He actually designed the tattoo for me after he found out I was joining the Initiative. Said it couldn't hurt to have a piece of the Milky Way with me." She turned back around and pointed out the different planets. Her first was one he recognized. "This is Earth, which is, of course, the human homeworld." She moved her finger to the next planet. "Mars, where I did my Prothean digs." And lastly, she pointed to a ship, another recognizable shape. "And this is the Hyperion, the human ark. You can't get much more... exploratory than an Initiative ark."

She was speaking a little more quickly than normal, a sure sign that she was nervous. He let out a soft hum, standing and making his way over to her. She stared up at him, violet eyes a little wary, but they softened after he pressed his lips to her forehead. "Taoshay, you can talk to me about anything. I understand why you thought this might be a sensitive subject, and I appreciate your empathy, but I'd like to know things. Everything, actually. And I trust and love you with all my heart; there is no room for jealousy with us. Besides, I quite like the art he did. It suits you."

Her expression was pleasantly surprised, warm and appreciative. "I don't know what I did to deserve you," she muttered, pressing her forehead to his. "Seriously."

"You didn't have to do anything but be yourself," he assured her, hand going up to press against her cheek. "That is enough."

* * *

 

The dust had finally settled. Not only had they defeated the kett and found Meridian, but Sara had managed to establish an outpost for her people on five different worlds and recover all three of the other Pathfinders. Not only that, but Scott was awake and, as it turned out, her mother was alive. They had settled into a rhythm, exploring the planets and continuing to try to figure out the remnant technology. A year after finding Meridian, he and Ryder had never been stronger.

Which was why he was very interested when she sent him a navpoint on Kadara with just a time to meet and a smiley-face emoticon. He was not sure what he expected when he made his way into the city and into a well-lit building, but it wasn't Ryder laying face down on a table, wearing just her bra while another angara took a needle to her skin. 

"Uh," was all he managed, completely ineloquent, and the angara pulled the needle away when Sara quickly looked up.

"Wait, no, turn around! It was supposed to be done before you got here. It's almost done." 

Despite his reservations, he did as he was told, turning to face the door. He heard the soft buzzing of the needle as it worked, and, soon enough, it stopped. There was a bit of shuffling, and then he heard Sara take a deep breath. "Okay. You can turn around."

So he did, and, admittedly, he wasn't completely sure what he was looking at initially. She had the same tattoo as before on her shoulder, with the planets and the ark, except... something had changed. Now there was a new planet. He recognized it quickly. "That's Aya," he said, narrowing his eyes to inspect further. "You added Aya?"

"I did," she confirmed, sounding a little nervous. She glanced away for a moment, and he followed her gaze to see the angara that did her tattoo slipping into the back to give them privacy. He was grateful. "I wanted to add an Andromeda planet. At first I thought Eos was the obvious choice, because, you know, first outpost. But the more I thought about it, the more I considered what was more important, I decided on Aya."

"What made up your mind?" he asked, though his lips twitched in a smile that hinted he could guess.

She looked back at him with mild exasperation, the way she did whenever he nudged her into saying something sentimental. But she gave in, like she so often did. "Well, first of all, I love Aya. It's my favorite planet in Heleus. You know I love your culture, your people, and all my friends there. Moshae Sjefa, Avela. And, of course, Evfra, my closest and dearest friend." That earned a chuckle from him, and she grinned at the sound before her expression softened again. "But, obviously, it was where we first met. And, honestly, I can't imagine doing any of this without you. I can't imagine my  _life_ without you. We were six-hundred-years in the making, an improbable inevitability, and I just... thought that deserved acknowledging in one of my favorite ways." 

He was touched, and it showed all over his face. That was something Sara had mentioned liking so much about the angara, about  _him_ ; she never had to guess what he was thinking. "Thank you, taoshay. I'm... honored to have earned a spot."

"Earn it you did, Jaal," she replied, looking relieved that he seemed happy. As if he could be anything but. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she leaned up to kiss him. When she pulled back, her eyes were bright, and Jaal fell more in love with her. "I'll save you from spending another moment on Kadara. Want to head back to the Tempest?"

"And have you all to myself?" he asked as she pulled away to slip her hooded sweatshirt on. "I'd love nothing more."

**Author's Note:**

> In case you had trouble picturing it, [this](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/36/00/82/360082032ae6dc717244da8533824a8f.jpg) is what that last tattoo looks like, but obviously with the correct planets and a female head. Thanks for reading! If you'd like to chat, follow me on tumblr at [vakarlan](https://vakarlan.tumblr.com/).


End file.
